No matter what is happening in the world, the state of entertainment within the digital landscape has locked consumers into dependence on streaming services to access their favorite shows and movies, rather than owning anything outright. For instance, Bluey dominates as the Australian indie animation studio phenomenon that could. In the United States it’s one of the most watched television shows… and happens to be distributed by Disney.
When a public boycott against Disney emerged over the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, the move struck the public as a knee bent toward the United States’ current administration’s ongoing attacks on free speech; his freshly allowed return still comes as too little too late to get back in the goodwill of a public whose trust has been broken.
Complicated circumstances like this (and other public boycotts with major corporations placed on the BDS movement’s list of targeted companies for complicity in Israel’s genocidal invasion of Gaza) may only become more frequent as conglomerates are bought by other mega-corporations in a tumultuous political climate. Public action targeting subscription cancellations, among other things, clearly remains a viable response and tactic on collective levels. In leveraging that as fans of stories and pop culture, we have been once again reminded of the power of how physical media is still a viable option to reduce our reliance on streaming subscriptions.
Now more than ever, because we don’t know how governments or studios themselves may choose to retaliate, there’s a potent reminder to build out and preserve your physical media collections, and there are many ways to do it—even for huge streaming shows like Bluey. Luckily in this case, in spite of its importance to Disney’s bottom line, the show isn’t made at a major in-house studio, so if you want to reduce your online media consumption or participate in boycotts while not directly supporting streaming platforms, here’s how in the case of one Australian Heeler in particular.
Buy Bluey Seasons on DVD
You can buy Bluey seasons on DVD (most are available) and Blu-ray at major retailers such as Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon. Plus, you can also probably nab not only home DVD players but also portable ones too, if you need Bluey on the go.
Purchase Bluey online
All three seasons of Bluey can also be purchased digitally directly through Apple, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Fandango at Home. Since episodes start at $1.99 a pop, it’s still cheaper to buy the DVDs and rip them onto your own personal drive (through services like Plex) for owned digital access.
Rent Bluey with your library card
Support your local library; they need that now more than ever! There you can rent Bluey, as well as any movie, show, or book you want to enjoy and protect community spaces where access to media and knowledge should still thrive for generations to come. You’ll have to check with your local library to see if they have copies of the show—you can use tools like the federal library finder or the third-party libraryfinder.org to find out where your local library is.
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